Preliminary work begins on ballpark’s ‘front porch’

Contractors have begun working on the foundation of the eastern entrance which will welcome thousands of patrons to El Paso’s new downtown ballpark; The area will include ticket booths and an adjacent plaza built above the existing railroad tracks which travel through downtown.

“This is really envisioned as a front porch which will welcome El Pasoans to their new ballpark,” said city project manager Alan Shubert, P.E.  “This eastern entrance will allow spectators to access the ballpark from the Santa Fe Street side which creates connectivity between the ballpark and other downtown amenities.”

According to city estimates, more than 4,000 surface and structured parking places exist within a five minute walk of the ballpark site – many of them are south and east of the ballpark. Additionally, crews are constructing a station on nearby Franklin Avenue which will serve Sun Metro’s new Brio rapid transit system. The eastern entrance will give people an easy way to get from their parking spots or mass transit to the ballpark.

When construction is complete, the City of El Paso will own the state-of-the-art downtown ballpark which will be the home of the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres baseball team.

For updates on construction, visit home.elpasotexas.gov/ballpark.